2 year stats

Today was Eliana's 2 year checkup. The doctor was very happy with her weight and development. We discussed the chickenpox vaccine and basically decided to wait until the baby is a year old - if she got it now, she could have a few pox for up to 3 weeks, and I can't guarantee the baby won't be born before then, and babies under a year shouldn't be exposed because they have more risks with it.

Eliana did fantastic - didn't cry, scream, or anything of the sort. A few times she whined "I wanna go home" or "time-a go bye-bye" but accepted "We have to see the doctor first" and calmed down. I think it really helped that they let her stand on the big kid scale - for some reason she hates the baby scales. The things that used to be scariest - the stethoscope and otoscope - she did just fine with. She even told the dr "'at's a skefscope, put in ears" and just watched as the dr put it on her chest and belly, then turned her head and opened her mouth for the dr to look in her ears and mouth.

Despite a lack of tears, she was exhausted afterwards. Worrying takes a lot of energy! She cuddled her blankie on the couches and the floor all afternoon until her nap, which we went in for half an hour early and she crashed within a minute.

Stats and development:

Height: 35 inches

Weight: 25.25 lbs

Teeth: all in!

Verbal:
Usually uses 4-7 word sentences, vocabulary passed 500 words 3 months ago (so I stopped counting), she talks constantly (my narrator)

Physical:
Can jump with both feet leaving the ground, tries to hop on one foot but ends up galloping, can draw pretty good circles

Preschool skills:
Counts from 1 to 14 (associated with objects, up to 6)
Counts backwards from 10 to 1
Sings alphabet song (except LMNOP is L no no no P)
Letter recognition on all upper case, a few lower case
Number recognition on 1 to 9
Colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, pink, black, white, brown
Shapes: circle, square, triangle, oval, rectangle, diamond, octagon, mixes up hexagon and pentagon

Eliana is two!

Well, Eliana's birthday and her party were both fun, for all of us! Tiring, but fun.

On her birthday we just sang to her and had her open some presents. Yesterday was the big party day. We had a ton of friends and family over. I think everyone enjoyed it. Elly got to open a ton of presents from us and her grandparents (a couple guests ignored the invite and brought presents too). She enjoyed being sung to, and did a great job trying to blow out her candle (Mommy helped). She even ate some cake this year! But then noticed the ice cream on her plate... and she'll take ice cream over cake hands down.

She is really enjoying having some age-appropriate toys now. All her old toys were very much outgrown... I even boxed them up the night before her birthday in anticipation of their replacement. She is really enjoying her new baby dolls, stroller, beach ball, and of course her singing and dancing Blue (of Blue's Clues fame), and oinking pig (yes I broke down and got her THE piggy). But really everything is being enjoyed! She just loves having new toys and books and music!

Tomorrow is her 2 year doctor's appointment. It's her first appointment with the new practice - hope I like them - and of course I'm curious to find out her stats now. They'll be getting the whole hospital story too... gotta make sure they're vigilant about keeping me informed about her weight and any adjustments I need to make about her diet. I'll hopefully post tomorrow with that story.

Hungry

Eliana has figured out how seriously I take her eating... and she's using it to her advantage. Nowadays when it is time to go to bed she says she wants to eat, to try to get out of it. Today was especially vigorous (she really didn't want to take a nap)... as soon as I said it was time to get Blankie, she said, "Need eat someting! Snack time! Nonna's hungwy! Weally, weally!!! Mmm-hmm!!!" With this wild, expectant look on her face, and rolling her head around in circles.

Hide 'n Sing

My mom's birthday was a couple days ago, and we were in town for it. The same day, a local toy store was having an anniversary celebration - a sale for the adults, and activities for the kids. Well, this is what my mom wanted to do for her birthday, so we went.

Eliana had a blast. The store is fun to begin with - lots of toys out for kids to play with. She got her face painted, rode "Plasma Cars", used a minigolf putter for the first time (and got a hole in one), and got a heart-shaped balloon from a clown. For my mom and me, the best part was none of these but the presence of a kids' musician who sang and played guitar.

Eliana's going through a shy phase, and when she sees someone new, she covers her eyes. The musician sauntered back and forth between the store and the outside hallway where the activities were. Every time he came near us, Eliana covered her eyes.

This did not stop her from enjoying his music. She grooved to that music. Every time he came within earshot, she immediately started to rock out, eyes covered. When he sang the alphabet song, she sang along, eyes covered. This could go on for 10 minutes - enthusiastic dancing, hands over eyes. My mom and I were in tears laughing at this adorable display. Even the musician was chuckling through a couple songs.

Oh for a video camera.

Bustin' Out

Four months and one day after the scariest day of my life, we're done. Finito. Finished.

Eliana had her first pediatric GI appointment in 2.5 months yesterday. Dr. Davies said she's doing fantastic, staying on her growth curves, including weight-for-height, and we should just keep going with the high-fat high-calorie diet to meet her high metabolic needs. But what really sums it up, she said, "I don't need to see her anymore." She gave me her voicemail in case I ever get concerned, but we appear to be in the clear.

I wish Eliana could really understand this, she'd be so thrilled. I still had to tell her "no tube" as we were waiting for her appointment to start. It helped calm the hysteria but she still cried, repeating "I'd like-a be all done," with every breath. Even after the appointment, as we were waiting for her records to give to her new pediatrician, it took me a while to calm her down. Once she was no longer crying she changed the refrain... her last tearful "I'd like-a be all done" was followed by a very calm, "Wanna go bye-bye out door. 'Ere it is! Door have knob. Let's go get that knob!" After which she spent 5 minutes repeating "Let's go get that knob!" (which involved 5 minutes of me repeating "In a minute. We have to wait for our bye-bye papers.")

I spent the whole drive home fighting tears. After not only that horrible day 4 months ago but the entire stressful month of February, to find this relief and closure, just felt marvelous. Of course I'm sure pregnancy hormones had something to do with it too.

I hope we never need anything from Dr. Davies again, but as far as I'm concerned, that woman is the best doctor I have ever come across. We were blessed to have Eliana in her care.

This Little Piggy

In the mall today, we passed by KB toys, which has a display of those little animal machines that walk and make their little animal noises. There were two dogs, a neon blue elephant, and a rainbow-colored cow. While I wondered why the dogs were given the dignity of looking like dogs while the elephant and cow looked more like sno-cones, Eliana was enraptured. She bent down, barking, trumpeting, and mooing her little lungs out. After about 5 minutes I managed to lure her away from them with the promise of more toys elsewhere in the store, and we headed down the first aisle.

There, near the end, was a wayward pig. Having somehow escaped the ring that enclosed his animatronic brethren, he'd made it two-thirds of the way down the aisle before toppling over, helplessly hoofing the air and oinking vigorously. Just as I noticed him, Eliana broke into a full run, arms stretched high in discovery, shrieking in delight, "Look! A pig! A pig! A pig!!! It's a piggy! It's a piggy!"

I didn't stop to find out, but I'm pretty sure the only thing all the other people in the store saw was a gigantic pregnant lady trying to waddle-run while throwing her head back and cackling.

By the time I caught up and caught my breath, Eliana had stopped short, dumbfounded. Now that she had reached the wayward pig, she didn't quite know what to do about this helpless furious mess. It was covered in dust and dirt but I reached down and turned it upright so it could continue on its escape. This not only re-animated Eliana, it also made her "wanna 'old it. Nonna touch it too. Soft piggy, put on nose." EEEWWW. Me: (look of horror) "Yes, it's a soft piggy, but it's too icky to go on your nose and it's too icky to hug." Eliana: (brightly) "Let's clean it." Me:"We can't, I don't have anything to clean it with." Eliana (sadly): "Just look at it." So we did for a few minutes, then moved on to the rest of KB's toddler offerings (not much, definitely an older kids' toy store).

So this has been our topic of conversation for the rest of the day (either to me or talking to herself). "Is an icky piggy. No touch it. Just look at it. Icky piggy icky piggy dirty. No clean it. Just look at it. Is a dirty piggy."